The Mustache, by Emmanuel Carrère

I wasn't expecting something absurd like that. I had heard it was funny, but I didn't realize it was so uncomfortable and disturbing and completely insane. Would you be more the type to laugh with delight or run away in disgust?

Summary

The narrator shaves every day. He likes to keep his moustache neat. One day, he asks his wife, "Do you think you'd like me without a mustache?" She replies, "I don't know, I've always known you without one. But it could be pretty, yes."

He then decides to surprise her, and during his daily shaving session, he shaves his mustache. He waits for his wife's reaction. But it never comes. His wife makes no comment, shows no sign of surprise, absolutely nothing. Disoriented, he refuses however to point out the obvious. She must be making a joke, a funny joke, but she will eventually give in. But at a dinner with old friends, once again, no one points out the drastic change on his face. Worse: his wife insists that he never had a mustache.

From a trivial act, we quickly tumble towards paranoia... and madness.

Impressions

Some people didn't like the book, because the ending doesn't conclude anything and the book doesn't make sense. Me, I think that's its strength.

I found it fascinating how we went from such a mundane event to such a great unease so gradually. You never suspect how bad it can get, how twisted the next step will be, you understand the narrator's actions and, like him, you are completely bewildered by the reaction of the world around him. We don't understand anything, and neither does he. And when the final straw comes to break the camel's back, we understand why the narrator does what he does.

It's not a very deep novel, but it's certainly a novel that stirs up some pretty intense emotions, and there's no denying that Emmanuel Carrère writes well. (Well, yes, surely someone could deny it, but I would disagree.) It's a little roller coaster ride in a short and easily digestible book. Emmanuel Carrère is a recognized and acclaimed author, and as a first contact, I find that The Mustache is perfect.